Reimagining the Structure of Forma

Brendan Murphy on December 9, 2014

As shared at the 2014 Forma membership annual meeting in Alexandria, VA, a working group of the Forma Board of Directors was established to consider how Forma might position itself to better seize the opportunities for church-wide leadership that it is being presented. As a result, the Forma Organizational Development Plan Working Group–Andrew Kellner (chair), Heidi Clark, Myra Garnes Shuler, Jamie Martin-Currie, and Lyle SmithGraybeal–met virtually and twice in-person between February and October 2014 to develop a number of recommendations for the board of directors in the form of motions. These eight motions included:
Motion 1 – Changing the Board of Directors Election Method and Composition Motion 2 – Implementing Board of Directors Structural Change Motion 3 – Hiring an Executive Director Motion 4 – Establishing Program Emphasis Working Groups Motion 5 – Increasing Ethnic and Cultural Diversity Motion 6 – Expanding Membership Motion 7 – Setting a Budget to Support Organizational Development Motion 8 – Fundraising to Support Organizational Development
In response, at its November 5-6, 2014, fall face-to-face board meeting, the Forma board approved, with modifications, the presented motions. If you would like to read the motions in full and the minutes of the meeting you can download them at (2004 11/5 Board Minutes). The gist of the motions includes:
  • The size of the board of directors will be decreased from 12 to nine members.
  • The length of board term will be extended from four to six years and the current advisory year of matriculating board members will be eliminated.
  • Future board members will be elected by the board of directors rather than by the membership.
  • Every two years the membership will elect a president-elect from qualifying board members. After two years of service, each president-elect will become the board president.
  • The board will acquire needed resources and develop helpful relationships so that Forma as an organization may: 1) hire paid staff; 2) maintain and grow the current offering of programmatic activities; 3) become a more ethnically and culturally diverse organization; and 4) increase the size of membership.
Perhaps the most surprising of all of these changes is that the Forma membership will no longer elect the board of directors. The Forma Board will be selected by a nominating working group with both board members and non-board members on it. This will assure that the Forma Board is suitably diverse in ethnic and cultural heritage as well as the level of church involvement (i.e. parish, diocesan, organization). Additionally, as the working group discussed what it would take for Forma to become a more robust association in terms of programming and diversity for an expanding membership, it became clear that hiring paid staff is essential. Then the question came to mind, “Who would manage this paid staff?” And, of course, the answer is the board of directors, as it should be. Rather quickly the working group realized that the current method of electing the board by the membership and the length of term of service for board members is not suitable for managing an executive director nor for achieving diversity goals among the board and organization. There needed to be established:
  1. A way of selecting governance that would allow for board membership stability so as to manage an employee and develop church-wide relationships.
  2. Predictability that if a person with particular gifts and background is recruited to the board that this person would actually be elected to the board.
  3. Maintaining organizational policies, procedures, and memory.
In response, the Forma board of directors feels it has landed upon a way to recruit and elect board members and a set of future development priorities that will allow it to be well governed and become an even more important resource for the Episcopal Church. The new board makeup also includes that every board member is a convener and chair of a working group that will be made up of non board members. Some of these working groups are also backed by funding so that the groups can travel and meet in person as well as virtually. The current working groups are:
  • Advancement/fundraising
  • Advocacy
  • Annual Conference
  • Faith Formation Academy
  • Resources
  • Ethnic Culture/Diversity
  • Membership
  • Communication
While at this point the Forma board of directors has set a course for the organization, we welcome your input. How does such a plan make you feel? What are your concerns? What are your enthusiasms? Please send me, Randall Curtis an email at [email protected] to let me know and I will be sure to share it with the board. You can also connect with me and other Board Members on Wednesday Dec. 10th and Friday Dec. 12th by going to https://appear.in/forma from 10-noon central time. Thank you for the time you have given to reading this post. Thank you for all you do to help with the formation of the Church. And thank you for your membership in Forma. 2014 Forma Board
  • Randall Curtis, President
  • Lisa Puccio, Vice President
  • Luke Fodor, Secretary
  • Kyle Mathew Oliver
  • Emily Given
  • Missy Morain
  • Myra Garnes Shuler
  • Sue Vogelman
  • Andrew Kellner
  • Lyle SmithGraybeal
  If you would like more information about the board process and discussion that led to these changes you can download: